Innocent
by midnight dystopia
Summary: They both have to get over their fear of the reality of death. Set during Obscura. The missing scene when Clark visits Chloe in the hospital and stays overnight. "He never really understood the meaning of death until someone close to him was taken away."


Author's Notes: This little scene came around and kicked me in the head after watching yet another episode rerun of Smallville on TV. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have writing it. : ) And feedback is always a plus.  
  
Innocent  
  
By: Rachel aka midnight dystopia  
  
"You should get some rest." Clark said. He couldn't bear to see Chloe cry, and watching her break down earlier made him want to punch a hole through the wall. Chloe nodded, and he was somewhat reassured.  
  
Clark didn't know how much safer Chloe felt too, when he was around. And watching him leave, Chloe was seized with a sudden panic. She couldn't be alone, not tonight. Somehow, she was afraid of the nightmares she knew would come. The hospital room felt too cold and empty after what she'd been through.  
  
Deep fear rose within her, eliciting fresh tears she couldn't contain. Silently, she swore at her weakness, but her anxiety was too great to be ignored.  
  
"Clark?" Chloe grabbed his hand quickly, and tried to blink away the tears in her eyes. Clark turned around. His face was tight with concern, even as his gaze strayed down to their intertwined hands.  
  
"Um," Chloe's voice was thick and she had to swallow hard before continuing, "would you mind sticking around for a little while? Whoever who did this is still out there."  
  
Clark understood. "Of course. I'll stay as long as you need me to." He tried to smile down at her, but his body seemed to have frozen up and he was left clutching her hand tightly as scenes of finding the coffin ran rampage through his mind.  
  
Chloe wasn't moving. She lay so still, oh so still, within the small coffin, and he wasn't sure if she was alive. She wasn't breathing, but it didn't mean she was dead. He wouldn't allow that. Not dead. Not dead. His world shrank to this moment, here, now. And Chloe wasn't moving.  
  
"Chloe!" He shouted, and a small part of him wondered what use there was in yelling at the dead. "Chloe!"  
  
And in this twisted fragment that his traitorous mind conjured up, Chloe didn't wake up. She didn't open her eyes and cry and hug him. This time, she remained unmoving.  
  
"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow." Lana's voice broke into his thoughts, and Clark was glad for the distraction. He sucked in a ragged breath, trying to focus.  
  
"Okay," he said softly. Lana smiled quickly, and Clark didn't miss the way her eyes flickered over to where he gripped Chloe's hand. Immediately his Lana-radar kicked in and compelled him to pull away, but he didn't, and instead glanced at Chloe.  
  
"Bye." Chloe managed a wave and a weak grin, her pale face still streaked with tears. They watched Lana go, then Chloe sank back against the pillows and all Clark could think about was her and how close he had come to losing her.  
  
"Clark-" She choked and he felt his stomach clench.  
  
"Shh. You're okay now," he said gently as he leaned forward to brush the cold tears off her cheek. "You're all right. I won't let anything happen to you."  
  
Chloe tried to smile, but it came out as a muffled sob. "I-" She drew in a shaky breath, and his hand tightened protectively around hers. "I don't want to die."  
  
"You're not going to," Clark stated firmly, even as his heart skipped a beat. He was careful not to use the 'd' word. "I mean, not now, you won't. Later, you will, when you're ninety-six years old and grumpy and need dentures. But now you won't."  
  
Chloe laughed weakly, and it was a wonderful sound to him. He looked into her face and couldn't resist reaching out with a trembling hand to touch her cheek, just to reassure himself once again that she was alive.  
  
Those few seconds when he had ripped off the top of the coffin and she hadn't been moving, and he had thought that he'd been too late. he had felt his whole world disappear then, and all he could focus on was that Chloe wasn't breathing. He had thought he'd lost her.  
  
Clark stared down at the ugly hospital blanket, remembering fighting against the panic that threatened to overwhelm him. And even now, sitting next to her, he still felt the icy grip of fear. Somehow that made him feel guilty, because it was Chloe who had cheated death, not he, and he felt as though he didn't have a right to be terrified of the reality of death.  
  
But he was, and he needed to learn to let it go.  
  
"Do you know how scared I was?" Clark said quietly, suddenly taking both of Chloe's hands and covering them with his. He raised his head slightly, and saw that she was staring at the ceiling. "I was horrified, when I opened that. box. thing, and I saw you and I thought-"  
  
"I thought so too." Chloe interrupted, and when she looked at him, her face was white, though she wasn't crying anymore. "I can. I can remember. being underground, and it was dark and there was soil all around, and." A look of wild terror entered her eyes, and Chloe shuddered visibly.  
  
"It's okay, it's okay. You're not there, not anymore." Clark stroked her hair gently, wondering which of them he was trying to calm down.  
  
There was an odd aching feeling in his chest that washed over him and made him fight to catch his breath. He had never really understood how fragile life was, until someone close to him was taken away, and he realized no matter how strong or fast he was, it wasn't enough to reawaken the dead.  
  
Impulsively, he leaned forward and planted a kiss on Chloe's forehead, his Lana-radar remembering that that was exactly what Whitney did when Lana was unconscious. Lana had cheated death too. But this was different, and Chloe wasn't Lana.  
  
Chloe's small wobbly smile told him that he had finally done something right. "Could you. will you hold me for a while?" Chloe whispered, and gazing down at her, Clark was struck by the vulnerability in her.  
  
"Of course." He hesitated a moment, then stood and carefully slid onto the bed beside her, opening his arms wide enough for her to snuggle into. His back resting against the bed's headboard, Clark stared expressionlessly ahead. His chin rested on Chloe's head, while her cheek pressed against his flannel shirt.  
  
The bed was decidedly too small for two people, and it was a tight squeeze just to make sure he didn't fall off, but Clark didn't mind. It was peaceful to just lay there and listen to the sounds of their slow breathing fill the room. It gave him a chance to sort out the fear of death, while holding his reminder of life in his arms.  
  
Sure, Chloe and Pete and Lana all had their share of close shaves with death before, but this time it felt different. All those times, a part of Clark had known that they would live. This time, he had believed that she hadn't. He believed that Chloe had died. It still scared him, and he had to keep reminding himself that it wasn't true. And it wasn't; she was alive and breathing and in his arms.  
  
Chloe didn't say anything, but Clark was sure she was doing the same sorting and reassuring. He could tell when suddenly her fist would close tightly on his shirt, and he had to gently pry her hands free, that she was still shaken. It would take a while for the shock to fade.  
  
They stayed in that position until the nurse came in and kicked up a fuss when she found him there, then told him off and made him leave. Clark stole a glance at Chloe as he left, and his look told her that he would be back.  
  
Ten minutes later he quietly snuck into her room, and then he was once again holding her in his arms and listening to her slow breathing as she fell asleep.  
  
He wasn't going to lose her again. 


End file.
